The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, September 17, 2009 - 7A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, September17, 2009 - 7A A BAD BITE FOR A GOOD CAUSE Greek leaders: Rush not affected by poor economy Panhel, IFC report 'nearly identical' numbers compared to previous years By VERONICA MENALDI Daily StaffReporter This year, don't expect the parade of girls down Hill Steet to slow, despite the struggling econ- omy. Neither the Interfraternity Council nor the Panhellenic Asso- ciation - the University's largest Greek councils - have noticed a dip in the number of students interested in joining Greek life in spite of a record unemployment rate in Michigan and economic woes acros4 the country. Mary Beth Seiler, director of the University's Office ofGreek Life, said Panhel officials were pleased to see the number of potential new mem- bers is almost identical to last year's. "It was a pleasant surprise for us," she said. According to IFC President Ari Parritz, their mass meeting had one of the largest turnouts he has seen in recent years. "My freshman year, for example, though we weren't in a big eco- nomic crisis, if you want to call it that, we had maybe half to three quarters less people than we had present this year," he said. Parritz said an increase in the number of fraternities on campus could be a reason for the higher numbers of participants, since the IFC hasn't changed any of its advertising tactics. "We're fortunate that our num- bers continue to grow," he said, "and that we continue to be an attractive source for students with many people realizing early on that Greek Life is a great way to find your place." Parritz said Greek Life officials have been worried about the eco- nomic impact on rush for the past couple of years, but their concerns haven't materialized. "Peoplewereaskingaboutitinthe winter and in the year before, butwe haven't noticed any downturn in our numbers," he said. "The numbers were up in the winter in the height of the crisis and they haven't shown any sign they'll go down." Seiler said students who are concerned about the costs of rush should consult Panhel's website wherefinancialinformationisread- ily accessible. According to Panhel's website, sorority dues range from $900 to $2,300 and are decided on an individual chapter basis. According to a Daily article from Feb. 10, the IFC doesn't publicly release the cost of rush. Panhel President Rachael Reeves wrote in an e-mail that she hasn't received too many questions from potential new members about the costs of joining a sorority. She added that she thinks many realize it can be a good deal to join the Greek community. "Sorority dues go toward things such as having a great chef so that you do not have to make your own meals, sisterhood events, and other things that generally really enrich your experience here at U of M," she wrote in the e-mail. To alleviate any financial con- cerns, the two councils do offer scholarship opportunities. Parritz said the IFC is sponsor- ing eight new scholarships this year, worth about $1,000 each. "We recognize the need and the large commitment it takes to become part of the Greek commu- nity," he said. "Since (IFC's) financ- es are flexible, instead of creating another program we wanted to give it back to the community into the area that needs it most -which is the new members." Reeves said the individual sororities offer many scholarship opportunities to their members once they have joined the soror- ity. She said Panhel also offers other opportunities like the ones funded by the Junior Panhel fundraiser. Since the Multicultural Greek Council holds recruitment later in the year, it's still not clear how the economy will affect rush, Carmen Loo, MGC's vice president, wrote in an e-mail. "Students are very worried about their economic situations, especial- ly with the costs of dues and rush," she wrote in the e-mail. Therefore, "people might be reluctant to go throughthe recruitment process." Loo said new members often ask about the costs of Greek Life dur- ing recruitment, but MGC doesn't have a number to give them most of the time because each house han- dles their dues differently. "Each organization works dili- gently to lower costs by giving out more scholarships," Loo said. "Many organizations have also increased their fundraising efforts by providing fundraisers and pro- grams that canpotentiallyincrease houses' treasury." She added: "MGC organizations especially have been keeping up with scholarship funds and trying to help new members as much as possible." Loo said compromises are always beingmade and MGC hopes the eco- nomic situation won't have a nega- tive impact on its future recruits. , . '' , CHAELVO N HABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN/Daily Youth Hope Organization members Shirley Wang, an LSA junior, and Gabriel Thurin, a 2009 University graduate, sell Krispy Kreme donuts in Angell Hall to raise money for their service trip to Haiti. YHO bought about 400 boxes of donuts for the event. INNOCENCE CLINIC From Page 1A argue new evidence suggests Vin- son spent 23 years in a cell at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facil- ity in Jackson, Mich. for a crime he didn't commit. Law Prof. David Moran, the other co-director of the Innocence Clinic, called the case a "scientific train wreck;' adding that the new evidence "conclusively exonerates" Vinson. During the trial, Vinson present- ed multiple witnesses who testified he was at his mother's home at the time of the crime, the brief states. But the prosecution had what the jury found to be damning evi- dence - evidence, it turns out, that is completely false. A mixed blood and semen stain was found at the crime scene on the victim's bed sheet and sent for forensic testing in 1986 to the now- defunct Detroit police crime lab. Paula Lytle, a police forensic ex- aminer, testified that her tests on Vinson's blood sample showed him to be a non-secretor, meaning his blood type does not reveal itself in his bodily fluids other than blood. Another police examiner, Officer Robert Lloyd, also testified at the tri- al. Lloyd said that fingerprints were not found at the crime scene. Lloyd told the jury that a "non-secretor" is less likely to leave fingerprints be- cause he or she perspires less. Theproblemwiththis testimony, according to the Innocence Clinic's BUDGET From Page 1A clear that she will draw the line at dangerous cuts that would hurt citi- zens or harm our ability to grow the economy and create jobs," said Liz Boyd, Granholm's press secretary. Rep. Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon Twp.) said the House's Democratic caucus proposed allocating funds for four key areas including the Michigan PromiseScholarship, early childhood education, police and fire safety, and Medicaid coverage. Byrnes said although Demo- crats in the state want to increase revenue through higher taxes, that option is complicated by the Michi- gan's current economic state. The Republican-controlled Senate is also unwilling to raise taxes as a means of creating more revenue. "The only other alternative is to generate more revenue of which would mean more taxes to people," Byrnes said. "And now we have the highest unemployment rate in the nation, and doing the general tax increase would not be very well re- ceived by the citizens of Michigan at this time." Sen. Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) agrees with the solution of raising taxes to help fund the state's vari- ous commitments. "There's a number of ways we could solve the problem, but basi- cally the kind of cuts they're talk- ing about are very draconian and they're not going to be able to pro- vide needed essential state services unless we provide some additional revenue," she said. "The problem is that there's se- rious philosophical disagreement between the leadership of the Sen- ate and the House about what is the role of state government," she brief, is that Lloyd did not clarify for the jury that by "non-secretor" he meant a person who excretes very little or no oils from his or her skin, and has nothingto do with the type of non-secretor Lytle's tests had shown Vinson to be. The Detroit crime lab, which conducted the tests back in 1986, was shut down last fall after an ex- ternal audit found a slew of errors in the lab's analyses in murder and other crime cases over the years. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy told The Associated Press last September that the audit found erroneous or false findings in 10 percent of 200 random cases tested and subpar quality control compli- ance overall at the lab. The audit also demonstrated a "shocking level of incompetence" in the lab, constituting a systemic problem, said Worthy at a news conference last fall. The lab met only 42 percent of a required 100 percent of recognized work stan- dards, Worthy said. In a report published in Febru- ary, Dr. Judith Westrick, an associ- ate chemistry professor at Lake Su- perior State University, re-analyzed blood and saliva samples from Vin- son. Westrick's tests found Vinson to be an AB secretor, meaning that both A and B blood antigens should have been found in the semen stain found at the scene of the rape. Because A and B blood antigens were not found at the crime scene, the brief argues, "Vinson could not have been responsible for this crime." Additional testing conducted in 2009 showed the semen to be that of someone with blood type O, further exonerating Vinson for the crime, according to Innocence Clinic officials. "If blood type O antigens came from the semen source, then Mr. Vinson could not be the semen source because the forensic analy- sis would have detected the pres- ence of A and B blood types, but only found type O," the brief reads. "Therefore, Mr. Vinson could not have been responsible forthis crime because his blood type should have been detected in the sheet stain but was not detected!' At the press conference yester- day, Karl's brother, Robert Vinson, said Vinson's conviction and in- carceration has taken a toll on his whole family, especially his mother, who has had to live with the knowl- edge her son has been in jail for 23 years for a crime he didn't commit. MoransaidVinsonhasmaintained his innocence throughout, adding that he has been denied parole sev- eral times because he has refused to admitcguilt to the parole board. Innocence Clinic officials are cur- rently waiting for Judge Vera Massey Jones to decide on the case. There is no timeframe for that process,though Moran said he's confident it will get resolved soon, as Jones is known for keeping a clean docket. - Elyana Twiggs contributed to this report. FOLLOW THE @michigandaily DAILY ON @michdailynews TWITTER @michdallysports continued, "that makes it difficult to come to these necessary compro- mises." According to Bauer, there is a $232 million difference between the House and Senate's higher edu- cation budgets, which is due in part to the House's full funding of the Michigan Promise Grants at $140 million. Byrnes said the state has federal stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that can provide a cut of the fund- ing for state universities, but that the Promise Scholarship was not included in these funds. "We're able to use those federal funds to do this, so there should be no cuts actually to the operating ex- penses of the universities," Byrnes said. "And that's why the proposal of the Senate was to cut the promise grant because that was not tied into the operating expenses." The University planned their budget for the 2009-2010 academic year according to estimations based on state appropriations of $316 million, according to Cynthia Wil- banks, the University's vice presi- dent for government relations. "That is the requirement under the federal stimulus program that the state must maintain funding at the 2006 fiscal year level," she said. According to Wilbanks, the Uni- versity's funding from the state, which is at about 22 to 23 percent of the general fund, has steadily declined since 2002, when state funding for the University was at its peak at $363 million. "It's certainly a reflection today of the downturn in the economy in the state of Michigan and I think all of us who rely in some way on state support know that the current ex- penditures of the state are not sus- tainable based on the current rev- enues that the state is receiving, so something's got to give" Wilbanks said. Bauer said the conference com- mittees, appointed by the House Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader during their meeting yester- day, will work to forge compromises and solve the differences between the two bodies. Those conference committee re- ports will then be presented as a re- vised budget to the full House and Senate. According to Bauer, after these reports are created, the House and Senate cannot further amend the budget and can only vote it up or down. Brater said while the legislature is trying to prevent a government shutdown through these recent ne- gotiations between legislative lead- ers, she has heard word of a possible continuation budget, which would involve a resolution that extends the currentyear's budget for a short period. "It's possible we could have a continuation budget. I've heard talk of that to reenact a single budget temporarilyuntil we solve the prob- lems," Brater said. "But that would be somewhat only a short-term fix because there's not enough money in this current fiscal year's budget. I mean there's more money being spent in the fiscal year's budget than we currently have to spend." Brater said the only sector in which she supports cuts is the De- partment of Corrections. "That of course is very contro- versial but we need to be shifting what we're spending in correc- tions to preventative programs and to prevent criminalization later in life," Brater said. "I think we know what we need to do to stabilize this economy and certainly invest in higher education is key for the 21st century workforce."